A day that seemed to be going Zimbabwe's way ended with smiles for the hosts as Bangladesh, riding on their spinners, managed to bounce back in the final session of the third day of the second Test yesterday.

The visitors had earlier staged a fightback of their own as centurion Brendan Taylor stitched together a 139-run sixth-wicket stand with Peter Moor but the Tigers managed to restrict the visitors to 304, 19 runs short of the follow-on target.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam led the way at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, picking up his third consecutive five-wicket haul, while off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz took three wickets to lay the groundwork for Bangladesh's comeback.

The visitors were struggling on 131 for five by the middle of the third session before Taylor and Moor steadied the ship. The former went on to register his fifth Test hundred -- which was his first ton away from home and fourth against Bangladesh -- while Moor was unable to reach his maiden hundred, falling for 83.

With a lead of 218 runs, the question is whether Bangladesh will enforce the follow-on on the fourth day or if the hosts will look to post a larger target in their second essay.

Resuming the day on 25 for one, Taijul removed nightwatchman Donald Tiripano after an hour while opener Brian Chari was dismissed by Miraz for 53.

Taijul then removed Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza in quick succession before Taylor and Moor's resistance frustrated the home side.

Bangladesh also paid the price for a poor fielding effort that saw them drop five catches. Substitute Nazmul Islam dropped Moor on 75 while Taylor also survived on 94 when Mushfiqur Rahim dropped an outside edge off Taijul's bowling.

Medium pacer Ariful Haque eventually provided the breakthrough, trapping Moor leg before, but Taylor went on to reach his hundred off 187 balls.

After doing the job with the ball, Tajiul also proved instrumental on the field, taking a diving catch to his right at deep-square leg to dismiss Taylor (110 off 194) off Mehedi's bowling.

Taijul then removed Chakabva to complete his sixth five-wicket haul in Test cricket and he is also eyeing the record of most wickets by a Bangladeshi bowler in a two-match Test series.

Mehedi holds that particular record after he scalped 19 Englishmen in a two-match Test series featuring a famous victory in 2016 at the same venue. However, with 16 wickets to his name in this series already, Taijul is just three wickets away from equalling the off-spinner.

The 26-year-old picked up six wickets in the first innings of the first Test and added five in the second innings. After his fifer yesterday, he has matched left-armers Shakib Al Hasan and Enamul Haque Jnr's feat of three consecutive five-wicket hauls.